Life under the thinking tree

Decluttering just like Marie Kondo

I have always been scared of changes. I don’t know why. It’s just something that been scary for me. I’m very comfortable in my bubble. Sometimes I like to blame my chronicle pain for everything.

It’s, of course, a part of it all but not the entire truth. I just hate throwing things away, I enjoy having things even if I don’t need them. Before Vince moved to Sweden and in with me I never saw the problem.

Then he wanted to make my apartment full with my things into our apartment. That is an adorable thought and wonderful thing to do with a partner. I on the other hand never saw this and denied everything and almost got a bit offended and mad every time he wanted to touch my things or throw them away.

I remember my sofa being one of those things. It has broken down more than 4 times now, we fixed it every time. I don’t like the sofa or the look of the sofa (it’s pink and is in the same room as the kitchen which is blue. So its all very messy with colors and stressful).

But when I moved to this apartment my granddad (whom I love extremely much) wanted to give me something. So for my first apartment, he gave me his old sofa with a matching armchair.

So to do the sofa represented him and his love for me and to hear it had done its job and was going to be thrown away was heartbreaking to me. We also had many conversations about my bed not being the best. It’s truly far from the best bed but it’s also the very first bed I bought for myself.

Recently I had a talk to Vince, we want to work out all the misunderstandings because far inside us we both love each other so much. But I know I can’t bring him here again and not be ready for changes or ready to open the home for him. It shouldn’t just be my home and my things.

So when my sofa yet again broke down the other day, I asked a friend to come over and throw it away.

I’m sorry grandad. It was an amazing sofa and I have many pics of me cuddling my cat in it still. It really did great work for the 5 years I had it. Thank you for letting me have it.

I want Vince to feel like it’s going to be a new start with our home. So my plan is to not buy a new sofa until we can do it together. But until then I have much to organize.

I want to donate at least half my wardrobe, I own a lot of things I never use that only take space. And I want someone else to enjoy them.

I also have collected a lot of sewing, knitting things, etc. All these things are at this moment in different bags around the apartment. I want to sort them all out and place them into plastic boxes. This way I can see what’s inside but the cat not get to them as easily.

I’m a bit annoyed about finding knitting yarns everywhere in the apartment each morning.

Marie Kondo – The magic of tidying up – I love her theory because it’s not about throwing away as much as possible and make it clean on the eyes. It’s more based on you as a person and what makes you happy. She doesn’t tell you to throw away all your books, but to keep as many as you like and that makes you happy.

My problem is that I want to clean, I want to tidy up, I want to declutter everything BUT I don’t know where to start. I feel like it’s so much and that it’s all just so overwhelming. At the same time, I want Vince to be here and help me go through it all. I don’t want to do it all by myself and I know he would be respectful in my things.

Things I want to be done:

I need to clean and put all my sewing and knitting things into boxes.

I need to clean out my wardrobe.

I need to declutter all my shampoos, body butter, and creams

Sell my kitchen table and buy a new much smaller one.

Get a new sofa and table

Try to make my kitchen into the color theme green/bronze/white

Start looking into a new bed and color theme for the bedroom.

Get the TV from the floor and up on the wall.

Try to get Vince and my computer next to each other.

Go through all my paperwork and books and see what I need to keep.

I have a long way to go but will try to bring you guys with me in my revamping of the apartment and life.

I just started some new pills and thought this would be a great time to actually do something. My apartment and living space have been stressing me out for a long time. It’s time to take the bull by its horns.

Published by Elin's Era

I'm a former Swimming pro, after getting nerve damage in my jaw I started coaching instead. After a few years of doing this, I became and librarian. This was the best job and I loved it.
At age 26 I realized I was mentally bullied by my closest boss and I decided I was at the lowest point in my life. I started hating myself and everything I did felt like a failure. So I took the big decision to quit my job.
While quitting my job I felt freedom but it only lasted a few hours. Anxiety from my parents worrying about my future and my pension hit me hard. I was a girl with a plan, I knew what I wanted and I always succeeded in getting it.
Now I stood without a job, I was single (or at least in a complicated relationship with a man from England) and I had no idea what to do. I moved back to my parents and so a new chapter started.
I created Rise Up Diaries as a way to daily log everything I did. But also get a reason to leave my self-pity and patheticness behind in my bed. I needed a reason to leave the house and to see the world and to find happiness again.
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30 thoughts on “Decluttering just like Marie Kondo”

I have a box upstairs and a box downstairs. As I come across things which no longer fit, I don’t use any longer, I don’t want to dust again, I won’t read/watch again, or I’m not even sure why I got it in the first place I put it in the box. When the box is full it goes to the local thrift shop. That being said my studio is a train wreck.

We recently watched that series as well. What I really liked is that she didn’t use any fancy techniques or have the families buy all new organizational materials. She used what they already had, just made it better. I love that, because realistically most of us are on a tight budget. I’ve been slowly decluttering my spaces. I started small like in the bathroom closet and made my way to bigger spaces. My biggest challenge is cleaning out one space just to clutter another one. It’s a slow process, but once the ball gets rolling you’ll start seeing progress. I haven’t tackled my yarn stash, and don’t intend to……I’ll just keep the door closed to that room!

I go through spurts of cleaning too. One day I had come back from a little overnight getaway. I was totally disappointed that my homely little bedroom looked nothing like the adventure hotel I had just stayed in. In a matter of hours I had torn apart my bedroom and put it back together again. My body might have regretted my decision, but my mind was sure happy. Between work, family, chronic illness and life, I definitely feel defeated on most days, but remembering to do what we can when we can is such an important life lesson.

Hey great post! I too get very stressed by clutter. My wardrobe which is mostly in chaos is my guilty secret. It is a pretty great coincidence that I read this post on the very same say that I decluttered my wardrobe!

What a brave start, Elin. You did well and you really understood the emotional wrench this caused you. The mess causes stress, but I hope the process of removing stuff or tidying won’t cause more stress. I expect Vince will be a help. Good luck.

Hi:
Your mind is jumping. Concentrate on one thing at a time. Pick one thing on your list you need to do. Do it and put a big star on your list. Think of it as 1 thing done. Remember if you and Vince are truly to be an item again, you need to begin. Good luck. Good to hear from you.

I’ve been doing a lot of decluttering myself and it’s definitely worth doing! I’ve donated many things and it makes me feel good that someone else can be using something that was just collecting dust at my place!

Right. Now. Haha, I’m tackling my closet once again, and in the middle of my break, I stumble upon your post! How perfect. My technique is to donate any winter clothing I haven’t worn this season. (Ok… or last season either!)

It’s like you know what I am up to! Decluttering is such a colossal task and I did that after thinking, fighting with my husband, denying that anything is useless, and arguing for more space. I finally gave away a large chunk of my clothes, 8 pairs of shoes, many toiletries and trinkets. It did hurt but I feel so light now. Do it Elin, you’ll feel fab too 🙂 Good luck!

I know exactly how you feel. I’m the same. I’m super atached to my things, don’t like change, and I have a super hard time letting go of stuff.
I’m also in the middle of a huge decluttering. I already got rid of a lot, but still have a long way to go.
I wish you lots of good luck!
If there’s something that really hurts to throw away (but needs to go nonetheless) I always take a picture. That way I can always look at it, and remember it.
Good luck again. And I love the picture of your adorable cat ❤

I’m the opposite in that I feel I have too much. I have to have a box of for things I to give away or I muse on how to free up space in cupboards and draws. Or I ask myself is this bit of furniture the best design I can get for the room. It’s a never ending problem.